Chapin Hall

Ashleigh Martell Brunsink is a Policy Analyst at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. At Chapin Hall, Brunsink provides research-driven capacity-building support to child welfare agencies across the nation. Her current projects include supporting several jurisdictions in Family First Prevention Services Act implementation; conducting a programmatic audit and analysis of a large child welfare system; policy capacity building; piloting a Child Maltreatment Fatality Review process; and operationalizing a child welfare practice model for Family Court alignment. She is also working with a team of colleagues to produce an Implementation Guide specific to the Qualified Individual role for jurisdictions implementing the Qualified Residential Treatment Program requirements under Family First. She is passionate about translating research evidence into effective public policy and is particularly interested in research exploring the adult functioning and neuroplasticity of former foster youth and mitigating the effects of maltreatment through the lifespan.

Prior to joining Chapin Hall, Brunsink was the Health and Human Services Program Specialist at CAI, where she supported local and state child welfare agencies in strategic planning, project management, and policy analysis. Brunsink previously served the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Children, Youth and Families, conducting policy special projects, where she led the statewide implementation of Plans of Safe Care for infants born affected by substance use and their families. She began her career as a houseparent in a congregate care facility and has experience in nonprofit legislative advocacy as well as higher education program management and fundraising.

Brunsink holds a Master of Social Work and a certificate in Child Welfare and Well-Being from the University of Pennsylvania and a dual Bachelor of Science in Nonprofit Business Management and Bible and Theology from Johnson University.